The Department of War (DOW) Mentor-Protégé Program (MPP) is a Broad Agency Announcement seeking reimbursable Mentor-Protégé Agreements that incentivize large prime contractors to provide developmental assistance to eligible small businesses to strengthen the Defense Industrial Base. The program uses a two-phase process: initial white papers followed by invited final proposals, with awards issued as subawards under the DOW OSBP MPP-I Cooperative Agreement. Protégés must be eligible small businesses meeting SBA size standards and specified socioeconomic/national-security criteria, while Mentors must be prime contractors with $25M or more in DOW contracts in the last fiscal year, an active DOW subcontracting plan, and DOW OSBP approval. Technical priorities include IT/cloud modernization, data integration and AI, cyber/industrial security, and digital workforce/governance, with allowable developmental assistance spanning technical, business, security, cybersecurity, accounting, proposal, and FOCI support. The period of performance is capped at three years/36 months, typically as a 12-month base with two optional 12-month periods, and an optional Protégé Pilot Initiative allows Protégé projects up to 25% of the reimbursable agreement’s annual budget.

The Department of War Mentor-Protégé Program incentivizes large prime contractors to provide developmental assistance to eligible small businesses, helping them become more competitive in the Defense Industrial Base while strengthening the supplier network. It uses a two-phase process: white papers are accepted on a rolling basis and, if selected, offerors may be invited to submit a final proposal; agreements are reimbursable only. Mentors generally must be prime contractors with $25M+ in DOW contracts in the prior fiscal year and an active DOW subcontracting plan, while Protégés must be small businesses meeting SBA size standards and qualifying under specified socio-economic or national-security categories, with active SAM.gov registration mandatory. Technical priorities include IT modernization/cloud/NBIS, data integration and AI, cyber and industrial security with insider threat and Zero Trust, and digital workforce/governance. Allowable developmental assistance covers technical/engineering, business development, FAR/DFARS training, facility clearance/personnel security, DFARS/NIST/CMMC cybersecurity, DCAA-compliant accounting, proposal support, FOCI mitigation, and IT upgrades; the period of performance is capped at 3 years/36 months, typically a 12-month base plus two 12-month options, and optional PPI projects are capped at 25% of the annual reimbursable agreement budget.